22.4.18

Macron warns against being ‘weak’ with Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron warned against showing any weakness
towards Vladimir Putin while insisting he wants to work with the Russian
strongman — in remarks broadcast Sunday on the eve of his state visit
to Washington.
“He’s strong and smart. But don’t be naive. He’s obsessed by
interference in our democracies,” Putin told Fox News Sunday, ahead of
his departure for the United States, where Russia stands accused of
meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“I do believe that we should never be weak with President Putin. When
you are weak, he uses it,” Macron said in the English-language
interview.
“And it’s fine. That’s a game, that he made a lot of fake news. He
has a very strong propaganda, and he intervenes everywhere… to fragilize
our democracies. Because he thinks it’s good for his country.”
“I think he’s a very strong man, he’s a strong president. He wants a
great Russia,” added the French leader. “He is extremely tough with
minorities and his opponents, with an idea of democracy which is not
mine.”
“I respect him. I know him. I’m lucid. I want to work with him,
knowing everything about that,” Macron said, who described himself as
having a “permanent discussion” with Putin, although they were
“disaligned on a lot of things.”
Relations with Russia will be one of the issues topping the agenda
this week as Macron is hosted by President Donald Trump, whose time in
office has been clouded by suspicion that his campaign conspired with
Russia to tilt the election in his favor, and by his own ambivalent
attitude to Moscow.
Macron’s comments also came as foreign ministers of the Group of
Seven industrialized nations gathered in Toronto to seek a common front
against what they view as Russian aggression in Ukraine, as well as
Russia’s role in supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and
an alleged attempt to kill a defector on British soil.